Lullaby
by jayhogartismyangel
Summary: Peter's life changed as soon as he found that squirming bundle in the trash. Now his life is changing as he fights to keep the baby he found and as he moves into a romance with Riley and gets new friendships.
1. Chapter 1

**Lullaby**

**A/N:I do not own Degrassi or it's characters. I **_**DO**_** however,own the rights to the characters of Scott and Caydence and Patricia and perhaps a few other minor characters later as they are my own creations. I also own this story.**

**Couple:Piley. Plare friendship,Holly J/Peter friendship,minor mentions of KC/Clare and Holly J/Spinner**

**Chapter One**

Peter Stone groaned and buried his head farther into the pillow,hands clasping at his ears trying to shut out the noise of the outside world but it wasn't working. For whatever reason. Sighing as he realized he wasn't going to get much sleep anytime soon,he stumbled from his bed and walked downstairs in his pajama pants and tee-shirt. He opened his front door and stepped out,letting the cool air hit his face.

He could hear something,some type of sound coming from around the corner. It sounded like an injured puppy or kitten. Feeling curious,he went to check it out. The noise seemed to be coming from a silver,lidded trash can. He walked over,hearing the sound grow louder as he got that much closer. A shaking hand grabbed hold of the lid and pulled it off. His mouth fell open as he saw what was the source of the noise he'd heard. A tiny baby wrapped in a white,wool blanket with pastel stripes lay in there,ontop of the trash. He heaved a gasp of shock and gently took the child in his arms. Huge blue eyes filled to the brim with shiny,crystalline tears stared up at him. The child had a thin layer of auburn hair on the top of it's head. He held the child in his arms,trying to sooth it's cries. He or she obviously wasn't that old judging by the size.

Peter walked into his apartment once more with terror on his face. He sat on the couch,rocking the baby in his arms. She---as he now knew,had finally calmed down and with a small hiccup was asleep. He supposed that he should call the police. They needed to know that he'd found a baby,abandoned. Plus,they could find some place for her to stay until she got adopted.

He grabbed his phone and pushed the green button to turn it on then dialed a number and pressed the phone to his ear,waiting for someone to answer on the other end.

"Officer Scott,how can I help you?" A man with a rather deep voice answered.

"Um...yeah. My name is Peter Stone. I found a baby outside my apartment,in a trash can in the alleyway." Peter said,swallowing nervously as he tried with all his might not to awaken the sleeping little angel in question.

"A baby?" The officer said,sounding so shocked,you'd think he'd just learned the world would soon end. "This had better not be a joke young man!"

"It's not!" Peter declared defensively. Why would they think he'd lie about something so obviously serious? "Look,I'm telling the truth. I swear. I found her in the trash can wrapped up in a blanket. She's sleeping at the moment."

"Well....children's services can't be there until morning. Is it possible for her to stay with you for awhile? Then in the morning come to the police station and give us your statement." With those final words the officer got off the phone and the line went dead.

Peter sighed and hung up the phone. "Guess it's just you and me now Caydence." He said tiredly,standing up so he could take the baby to the bassinet that his sister,Angel slept in when she was here. Then his eyes widened in horror as he realized that he was becoming attached to a child he didn't have the resources to keep. "Damn it!" He cursed under his breath as he placed "Caydence" in the crib. This was bad.

-------

"So you say that you found her out here." The officer he'd talked to the night before said. It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes." Peter answered,annoyed with the question as he shifted Caydence into his other arm. He had dressed her in a pair of his sister's baby clothes. Luckily he'd had diapers at the house from when Angel last stayed with him. He'd had to tighten the diaper more because Caydence was tinier than his sister was.

Just then,a woman who was dressed in a business suit walked up. There was a grim look in her eye as she stopped and stared at Peter. Her eyes met Scott's and Peter could tell that the two adults didn't want him to understand. Finally,the woman turned back to Peter and said. "I'm Patricia Zachariah,I'm with Children's Services and I need to take that little girl into custody." She nodded her head at Caydence who was drinking her bottle before she reached in and took the little girl from Peter's arms.

Caydence immediatly began to wail,not comfortable in this woman's arms. Her chubby little hands reached out torwards Peter,trying to get to him. She began to wail louder when she didn't suceed.

"Your scaring her!" Peter burst out as his face reddened. He took Caydence into his arms once more and began to coo at her. Like the night before,the baby calmed,feeling safe with the blond who held her so protectively.

"I need to get her to a foster home,sir." Patricia said,tapping her foot against the ground impatiently.

"What if I became her foster parent? Could I do that?" Peter asked desperately as he kissed Caydie's sweet smelling head. He couldn't bare to be parted from her. This baby had taken his heart in a tight embrace that wouldn't let go.

Officer Scott and the child services lady could only look at him in shock.

**Next Chapter:Peter fights to foster Caydence. Riley meets Caydence. Clare and Holly J are taken by the baby.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Lullaby**

**Chapter Two**

"You don't even have a job! AND your in high-school!" Patricia squaked at him,as if he didn't understand that already. Did they really think that he didn't get that? Sure,he wasn't an A-plus student but he could see that Caydence was attached to him. He knew that it would be hard to do,but he knew that he could do it.

"Yes. But I have money and I have friends who can watch her when I can't. And if I have to,I can get a job. It's almost the end of school anyway." Peter replied with a sigh,eyes holding a look of determintation.

Patricia rested her eyes on the baby which now lay contently in Peter's arms,holding his finger in one tiny fist. Then her eyes lifted to look at Peter again. It was true that the baby looked comfortable with Peter but really,How could the young man be equipped to care for a child so small?

"I have fomula,a cradle,bottles,and clothes from my little sister! Caydence can use them! Angel has outgrown it all!" His voice sounded desperate even to his own ears and it came as a shock to him. Why did he care so much for this child?

Scott's eyes narrowed. "A baby needs more than just that. That's only half of it." He told him.

"And I can give her that! I can give her shelter and love! My friends can help me take care of her! I'll get a job, I already told you that. Just...you can't just take her away. Give me a week to prove to you that I can care for Caydence. One week, that's all I ask. If I do good, I want to either adopt her or foster her. If I don't do well, I'll give her to you." Peter said carefully.

Patricia and Scott shared a look.

Patricia finally spoke up. "Fine. Seven days. Once those seven days are over, Officer Scott and I will be back to check up on you." She turned and headed torward her car, getting inside and driving off with one last look at Peter.

"You heard her. One week." Scott said before he went to his own car.

Peter let out a sigh of relief when they left and smiled down at the baby in his arms with a soft smile on his lips. "It's just you and me now, little girl." He said in a sweet, gentle tone.

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Peter was getting little Caydence ready to go to the Dot with him when suddenly, someone knocked on the door. Scooping Caydence up and bouncing her a bit in his arms so that she wouldn't cry he yelled, "It's open!"

Riley Stavros walked in then. "Hey Peter---" He trailed off when he saw the baby in his friend and crush's arms. "Whoa!" He exclaimed, walking closer.

"Hey Riley." Peter said, meeting Riley's eyes. "This is Caydence."

"Um....I thought your sister's name was Angel." Riley stuttered.

The blond boy nodded. "It is. Caydence isn't my sister. I couldn't sleep last night because I heard something outside. I assumed it was the wind or an animal or something. I ended up going to check and found Caydie here in a trash can." He said to his friend solemnly.

"They just left her?" Riley asked in disbelief, shaking his head in disgust. How could anyone do that to a helpless child?

Peter could only nod. "Yeah. Hey, dude I think she wants you to hold her!" He said with a laugh. Caydence was reaching a hand out torward Riley pleadingly.

Riley could only nod as he reached out and cradled the baby in his arms. The child was staring up at him with a bit of drool on her lips and chin as she gurgled. He could only smile back. "So what is she doing here? Shouldn't Child's Services have come and gotten her?" He asked as he looked up at his friend once more.

"Dude," Peter said, swallowing hard and running his fingers through his blond locks. "That's the thing. I am going to be taking care of Caydence for a week. I arranged it with the police officer and Child Welfare lady who visited this morning. I have to prove that I can take care of her so I can either foster her or adopt her. I mean...I looked at her Riley and I thought about how my dad doesn't have time for Angel. How he just drops her off here whenever he feels like it. I remember sitting in my dad's office when I was a kid, playing with a stapler just _waiting _for him to take some time off for me--to pay attention. If I still remember that then she would remember the system. I can't let her in that enviroment. I can't let her feel like I felt whenever my dad didn't have time for me." He said, his blue eyes looked up at Riley, begging for his understanding.

The more muscular boy swallowed hard as he stared down at the innocent being that he held in his arms. He nodded his head ever so slightly. "I would've done the same thing." Riley whispered, licking his parched lips.

Peter let a real smile finally settle on his lips. "I was planning on taking her to The Dot so I could get myself some lunch and ask for a part time job, then I was planning on going shopping for better fitting diapers, baby food, and things, would you like to come with us?" He asked his friend hopefully. He didn't know why but he really craved Riley's company today.

The boy in question grinned and shifted to place Caydence in the stroller that Peter brought over to him. "Sure." He replied. Anything to get to spend more time with Peter. Plus, his friend had really been there for him when he'd been hooked on steroids. Riley wanted to be there for Peter through all of this as well.

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The door opened to the Dot and Peter and Riley could see Holly J rushing around, taking orders and handing out food. The strawberry blonde stopped immediatly though as soon as her blue eyes settled on the stroller that Peter's hands rested on. She let out a gasp and walked over to them, being uncharacteristically quiet. Not at all the snarky, sarcastic girl everyone knew her as.

"Babysitting for money to take Mama Mia out, Stone?" She sneered with a hand on one hip, tray of dirty plates, cups, and silverware in the other.

Ah _there_ was the Holly J they all knew!

"No. For your information, Caydence here may soon be my daughter." Peter snarked right back.

"Your _daughter?"_ a shocked voice said from behind him.

He whirled around, coming face to face with Clare who had her fingers laced with her boyfriend, KC's.

Clare and Holly J both knelt down next to the stroller and started cooing in unison, something that was uncharacteristic for both of them.

KC was the one who finally spoke, "What did you mean by the baby may soon be your daughter?"

Peter and Riley shared a look and both knelt down beside the girl's to stare into the stroller as Peter began to speak.....

**Next Chapter:Peter tells them about finding the baby. Holly J and Clare insist on helping Riley and Peter shop for Caydie and KC and Spinner are brought along for the ride.**


End file.
